Gilbert Girls
by HeavenlyTreeHillLife
Summary: After getting pregnant at a young age Elena Gilbert has spent the last fifteen years raising her child with the help of her daughter's uncle Stefan. What happens when her daughter Mia's father Damon shows up unexpectedly? Read as the two try to raise their daughter together while still trying to raise themself. #Gilmoregirlsinspired AU HUMAN
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey everyone thanks for at least giving my story a fighting chance. It means a lot.**_

_**First off I would like to say this isn't the first time I have wrote this but I went so long without internet that when I got it back I forgot my email address that I used for this so I made another one a while back and forgot about this story. t was originally under lovemehatemetilldeathdowepart so if it seems familiar it probably is.**_

_**I got the idea from Gilmore girls and a little OTH it is very family based and human based.**_

_**In this story it does explain it but Elena gets pregnant when she is 12, young yes, and has her daughter when she is 13 years old that age because I am a huge Nina dobrev fan and she played Mia from Degrassi and that is how old that she was and that is where I got the name Mia.**_

_**This will Mirror the Gilmore girls Pilot a lot but it will have my own take to it of course. **_

* * *

Elena Gilbert had many regrets in her life she couldn't count them all on her fingers. But one of those regrets led to something great. It was the greatest thing to ever happen to her but at the time it was the worst thing possible, it was the worst thing imaginable. Getting pregnant five months shy before she had reached the age of being an official teenager and having a baby not long after celebrating her birthday of turning thirteen wasn't exactly the ideal situation. It was the worst situation. Many girls hadn't even started puberty by then she was an "early bloomer" as her mother so kindly put it. Only girls in foreign countries had children so young she didn't even think she could get pregnant at that age.

Her parents were less than thrilled, her reputation was ruined, and on top of everything she had no way to support her child. But she didn't really care all too much as time continued to pass she only cared less and less. Nearly sixteen years had passed since the day she found out she was pregnant. It was the most terrifying moment of her young life. How could she Elena Gilbert have a child when she was still one herself? But she did. She took on what seemed to be the impossible. The last few months of her pregnancy passed by rather fast and rather slowly depending on how you looked at it of course being so young she couldn't exactly carry to full term. When she was nearly six months pregnant Elena went into labor and gave birth to Mia Garcia Pierce. Her daughter was born a fighter she wasn't going to go down without a fight… she gets that from her mother.

"Rise and shine… it's time to greet the day" a beautiful young voice said in a sing song kind of way that made Elena want to vomit.

"God… you're a morning a person where did you get that from it sure as hell was not from me" Elena said from beneath her covers refusing to come out to start living her life again.

"Get up right now!" Mia said as though she were the adult of the relationship which most of the time she was. Elena simply rolled over acting like she had never grown from her teenaged phase planting her butt directly in the air burying her head between her two comfortable pillows.

The covers which twenty nine year old Elena hid beneath was suddenly jerked away and tossed on her bedroom floor by Mia who stood there arms folded staring at her mother who looked less than pleased. Mia turned on her heel and stormed out of her mother's bedroom leaving her to get dressed. Elena knew there was no fighting her daughter for many reasons one being she was just like her mother in more ways than one and it was really like having an argument with herself well Elena was stubborn and she didn't quite have the energy for a fight neither of them would win knowing she had to get up anyways or she would be late for work.

Elena unwillingly rolled out of her bed walked over to her dresser and wasn't surprised when she seen the same reflection she saw every single day. Not that she had any complaints either. She didn't look all too bad for a single mother but then again most single mothers with a fifteen year old daughter was almost in their forties or fifties but Elena still had yet to turn thirty.

* * *

Golden Grove, Virginia wasn't your typical town, it took the meaning small town to a whole new level. There was one and only one of everything if you were lucky sometimes you had to leave to town to collect certain items. It was one of those places that are literally that small they have to be written about in a fictional story or seen on television. The town sat on the edge of a lake which is the second most popular place in Golden Grove the first place everyone loves to go to was Salvatore's. It was a cute little café that sat between the town pharmacy and the town police station.

It was opened years ago by Sylvia Holden but after she died it was passed down to her son Stefan who decided to keep it open even after her death. The café meant so much to his mother that it meant a lot to him as well. She died when he was only but a teenager only thirteen years old leaving him to his father Giuseppe until he had graduated from high school. His father didn't live in Golden Grove so Stefan had to leave the place he had called home since the day he was born and move into a home where it was made clear he was not welcome. Well except for one person his older brother who wasn't just his brother but he was also Mia's father.

Fourteen years prior Giuseppe married a woman by the name of Alice she wasn't a very likeable person but she came from a powerful as did he. Not long after the two wed she fell pregnant. Both families were thrilled but Giuseppe wasn't. He should have been. It was his first born child. But he was having a child with a woman who he couldn't stand. Each night he started to come home later and later, his business involved traveling anywhere and everywhere. One of those places being Golden Grove just a forty five minuet drive away from Richmond.

When he was working in the tiny town he would occasionally have a cup of coffee or a piece of pie at the local café. There he met the owner, Sylvia who he quickly fell head over heels in love with. Who couldn't? She was beautiful and one of the sweetest people on the face of the earth. It took no time before he had swept her off her feet and into his bed conceiving his second child. It took no time for the news to spread around like wild fire leading his way back to his wife and family. Sylvia made the wrong

assumption that he would come running to her because he did love her. It was true and pure and undeniable love but he knew what was expected of him. He left her ultimately breaking her heart and leaving her to raise their son alone.

The two Salvatore boys were only six months apart in age. They became close when Stefan moved in where he wasn't wanted. It brought up bad memories from a bad time that had taken the family so long to bury. A year after the youngest Salvatore was reunited with his family was when Elena found out she was pregnant Damon leaned on his baby brother for support. He was going to become a father when he was only fourteen years old. It was at that time that time Giuseppe grew close to his youngest son, closer to him that he ever had been of Damon.

Just as Giuseppe had done years ago Damon repeated when he was only but a child, a teenager. Damon had embarrassed his family to great lengths. When being a Salvatore you were expected to live up to a certain level of expectations which Damon hadn't done but Stefan had that was until he announced that he was going to reopen his mother's café. Both of his children had been a disappointment to him however he was still closer with Stefan who would come visit him every so often. What made him proud was that Stefan had helped raised Mia to the best of his abilities something he himself had failed to do as a father with his youngest son. He chose pride over his own flesh and blood but Stefan would always choose his own family no matter who they were. Mainly Mia. He loved her as though she were his own.

"What can I get for you"? a waitress asked the two Gilbert girls who sat at the table in the corner.

"The usual" Elena answered "it's probably already warmed up and sitting in the back".

The waitress nodded before walking back she was obviously very new to the place and to the town.

"Ok you can go to work with me today" Elena said turning to her daughter "and we can stop by the mall to get your school supplies on the way back or we can go this weekend. Your pick".

"Why can't we just pick everything up here I'm sure Foodland has everything" Mia said looking at her mother "not to mention there are two other stores who probably carry exactly what we need for five times cheaper than what it will cost at the mall".

"Yes, yes the probably do but it's your first year of high school you should have the best of the best even if we can't afford it" Elena said with a laugh at the end as the woman sat down their plates directly in front of them. "So do you want to go with me tonight or this weekend? We need to get you some clothes too".

"Yeah I'll go" Mia said nodding.

* * *

Mia tied her mother's robe to the same outfit Elena had been wearing for the past thirteen years of her life. She wasn't exactly living the dream being a housekeeper or maid but it was what paid the bills. That was all that mattered in her world. That she was able to feed her daughter and keep the electricity running. That was what mattered to her it didn't matter how she got the money to do those things as long as she got the money. It was less than a fifteen minuet drive out of Golden Grove to Beaufount one of the classiest most upscale hotels there was in Virginia.

"What are you reading" Elena asked her daughter who sat down in one of the closet tables nearby while her mother finished getting ready.

"Oh just the Great Gatsby" Mia said "just something to occupy my time".

"To occupy your time you could read the cat and the hat".

"Elena" the young woman heard and turned to see someone in a suit and tie.

'Oh boy" Elena thought to herself someone dressed up that worked here couldn't mean anything good. It meant only one thing in fact. The general Manager was there to judge everyone's work and to let someone go. It was the worst time of the month. It made PMSing seem like a whole lot of fun rather than sitting in a small room being judged for everything you've done wrong. It wasn't a good feeling knowing that your job could be terminated at any given second when you are sitting in that little blue chair twiddling your fingers.

She was completely and totally nervous whenever she went in but wore a smile showing it was all gone whenever she left the room. In fact she couldn't wait to run to the kitchen looking for her best friend. After nearly knocking down the chef and setting someone on fire she found Caroline in the back washing the dishes with hands that belonged on the front of a raisin box.

* * *

"Guess what guess what" Elena said unable to hide her enthusiasm.

"What"? Caroline ask curious as to why her friend was acting like a mad woman.

"You are now looking at the new Manager of Beaufount how great is that"?

"Are you serious"?

"As a heart attack! Leon is here today and he called me in went through the usual told me how bad I sucked at my job then told me and he had better here...how I parked in everyones spot...etc then after that he told me they fired Ted and they wanted me to take over as manager. I get a huge raise, better insurance, a parking spot right next to the building...If I quit stealing everyone else's and the rest of the day off".

Elena had met Caroline many years before in Golden Grove when they was only fifteen and she worked at the market. They instantly became friends. Caroline's dream though wasn't to wash dishes it was to be a chef at the Inn they plan to open together one day. But until then they share a house with Mia working crappy jobs even though Elena's wasn't so crappy anymore but it still wasn't what she wanted to do.

That didn't matter anymore.

* * *

Elena looked through the produce in front of her as she walked along with Bonnie Bennet one of her closet friends. She hadn't stopped telling everyone around her about her promotion all day. It was that exciting to her.

"The money is just amazing… the biggest raise I have ever seen" Elena said looking at the watermelons "I mean I could afford to buy three of these. Sorry… I'm just happy I can finally give Mia things she has always wanted".

"I am so happy for you… I am sure Caroline and Stefan are as well".

"Oh yeah".

The two continued to browse through the farmers market that was set up in the middle of town square when they heard something unfamiliar. A noise you didn't often here in the small town they called their home. The noise came from the motorcylse that was riding through town directly in their direction. No one could stop staring it wasn't exactly something you got to see every day in such a small town. Elena's breath got caught in her throat when she saw it wasn't just anybody passing through town like many but it was the very man that got her pregnant many years ago. Not seconds later she heard a scream and seen Mia running in the very direction of her father.

"Oh my God daddy" Mia yelled and jumped into her father's arms.

"I see your still driving that thing around" Elena said walking over to him.

Neither of the two had changed far too much he still looked like sex on a stick the motorcycle and leather jacket just added to it. Elena was surprised that Mia was still the only child he had that she was still the only woman he had ever got pregnant with all the women he had been with over the years. Hell, he was shocked.

"The best transportation better than your little broken down piece of junk sitting over there" Damon said referring to her white car that needed to be traded in about six years ago.

"Hey don't hate on Bethel" Elena said with a smile.

"It's a cool bike dad" Mia said looking at his motorcycle which was something no mother wanted to see their fifteen year old daughter doing. It didn't matter who it belonged to it made Elena's head spin but what Damon said next made her weak in the knees. "You want to go for a ride"?

Elena watched as Mia's face lit up and she couldn't even pretend to hide just how eager she was as she turned to her mother and began begging "please mom can I can I"?

"I don't know" Elena said making it clear she didn't like this idea.

"Oh come on mom"!

"Yeah c'mon mom" Damon said.

"Ok… fine just be careful".

From there on Elena could only watch Mia get on the back of his motorcycle and felt like the concrete beneath her feet had been jerked out from beneath her. It made her sick. Not just watching her daughter ride off with her father on a motorcycle on less but the thought of Damon. He wasn't a bad father at all but he wouldn't win father of the year either.

"What's going on"? Elena heard Stefan's voice from behind her.

"Your brothers in town".

* * *

**So please review and tell me what you think. If you want to see anything in particular come to the story I will introduce some more characters as we go along and everyone that has been on TVD at One point or another you will see on her in some way shape or form. Like I originally had planned it was going to be centered on romance but instead of doing that I am going to center it around family instead and when it feels right I will bring that to the light.**

**This will be very much like GG andTVD both are my two fav shows.. why not combine them **

**Again please review and tell me what you would like to see or who you would love to see. Whatever comes to your mind. **


	2. Chapter 2

"Elena you are going to burn a hole in the floor" Bonnie Bennet said as she flipped through a magazine while sitting at the kitchen table. "If you don't trust him why would you let Mia go with him"?

"It's not that I don't trust him… it's not that I do either… I don't know if I trust Damon or not all I know is he has basically shown up out of the blue and whisked my daughter…. Our daughter away on his motorcycle over three hours ago and I haven't heard a thing from him. You would think he would at least call me or in some way shape or form let me know my daughter… our daughter is alright".

"This will pass it" Stefan told Bonnie who looked at Elena who was literally having a meltdown in the kitchen which wasn't something you got to see every day. "It happens every single time Damon comes into the picture or calls to get Mia for a few weeks. Just sit back and relax it will blow over shortly".

Bonnie listened to Stefan he had been around Elena a lot longer than anyone else he had witnessed it all from the very start when she got pregnant. He was the only one who knew where she had gone when she ran away because he made sure she had a place to go. Stefan had grown up in a lovable environment so when he moved in with his father it was shocking the kind of lifestyle that was lived. The same went for the Gilbert's.

"Hey Stefan since you're here could you go look at my car?" Elena said trying to focus something else and ease her mind a little. "It doesn't want to start then when it does it is making a weird noise like a purr when I am driving… like a dying cat or something".

"Sure" Stefan replied jumping up and darting out of sight. He was honesty kind of thrilled to leave the room where no words were spoken that he had been sitting in for an hour or so waiting on his brother of all people.

A few minutes passed along rather slowly when Elena heard the front door open and her head instantly shot up in that direction as she stood at the sink waiting. A voice came from the foyer yelling "I'm home" but to Elena's dismay it wasn't Mia unfortunately it was Caroline who made her way into the kitchen to find both Bonnie and Elena staring directly at her. It was pretty clear she wasn't who they was expecting or wanting at the moment when both of their faces dropped and they went back to what they was previously doing which was pacing the floor and reading a magazine. Caroline had been friends with Elena for fourteen years so she knew just by looking at Elena that something had happened if the way they both had acted when she walked into the kitchen had told her something the fact that Elena was smoking set her off. Elena rarely ever just lite one up at all let alone in her own kitchen she was a "stress smoker" and when she did smoke she did it privately where no one would could see her most of the time behind the house.

"What's going on" Caroline asked her Bonnie as she removed her apron and placing it on the coat rack.

"Damon is in town" Bonnie said continuing to flip through the magazine.

"As in… Mia's father" Caroline asked the question that seemed rather stupid once she had said it out loud it was pretty clear who Damon was by the look on Elena's face.

"So you have never met him"? Bonnie ask Caroline who simply shook her head.

It wasn't weird that Bonnie hadn't met him she had only been friends with the girls for five years and she only moved in but three years ago. Although Caroline had watched Mia grow up which meant she should have met Damon at some point at least in passing. He was talked about enough over the years that she had known the girls Bonnie just assumed Caroline had met him face to face.

"No" Caroline answered her question in a low voice that was nearly a whisper. "Mia has always went away with him through the summer or went on visits I've never met him. I don't think he has ever come here. What did he look like"?

"I don't know. I could only see his back but it was a very hot back".

Elena narrowed her eyes looking at her smiling friends not even the slightest amused by the two girls. Before Elena had the chance to reply to their little comments they thought was cute she finally heard a loud rumbling sound coming closer and closer before it was so loud it was as if they was standing right next to a saw mill. She could finally breathe as though bricks had been lifted off of her chest. Caroline watched as Elena quickly put her cigarette out throwing it down the sink and spraying whatever type of perfume spray she could find closet to her.

"Is that a motorcycle" Caroline asked still completely in the dark about most of what had happened or why Elena was suddenly acting like a mad woman trying to erase all evidence of her horrible habit.

"Mom" they all heard Mia's sweet voice with the distant sound of the door opening and closing which answered why Elena had tossed a cigarette down a sink faucet.

"Kitchen" Elena replied.

It didn't take long before Mia came bouncing in with her father closely in tow. It was true Damon wasn't exactly the worst person in the world to look at but Elena watched her two closet friends suddenly act like girls her daughters age at a boy band concert. She suddenly found herself thankful that her daughter was very mature for her age and that she raised her to actually have good taste in music.

"Dad this is Bonnie and Caroline my mom's friends" Mia said turning to the two dropped jaws sitting at the kitchen table.

"I have heard a lot about you two over the years".

"I can assure you none of it true" Bonnie said twirling her smiling like a little girl who just received a candy cane on Christmas before Caroline added with a devilish grin "well some of it is".

"How did you girls meet" Damon ask them.

"I met Elena many light-years ago when we both worked at the local market" Caroline said.

"I met her just about five years ago we was both in business school and had more than one class together" Bonnie replied.

"Yeah mom told me about that how did that go for you" Damon asked turning to Elena.

"I had to drop out the money alone was too much let alone trying to find the time to go" Elena said making it clearly obvious that it wasn't exactly something she wanted to talk about.

Elena couldn't believe what she was seeing it was obviously something she never thought she would see or perhaps she didn't want to see it. Damon Salvatore was standing in her kitchen looking as ruggedly handsome as ever just another James Dean walking around. But for some reason Elena wasn't exactly too happy about it she should be it was clear that Mia was overwhelmed with happiness. They hadn't heard from him in more than six months. But unfortunately Elena just stood at the sink arms crossed

avoiding all eye contact with him and he knew it too hell he knew Elena better than anyone here who thought they truly knew her.

"Mom I saw Stefan's truck outside where is he at"? Mia ask ignoring the tension that was starting to set in between her parents. "I'm sure dad wants to see his brother".

"His in the garage fixing my car" Elena replied walking towards the fridge.

The eldest Salvatore boy wrapped his arm around his daughter as they walked out of the room. Caroline and Bonnie didn't hesitate to jump back into their teenaged state of mind leaning around the corner to watch him disappear.

"My God he is gorgeous" Caroline exclaimed "he looks like one of those guys on the bags they put your clothes in when you buy something from Hollister".

"Don't let him hear you say that his ego is big enough as it is" Elena told her.

"Is that the only thing that is big"?

Bonnie laughed, she had been thinking the same thing but Elena just glared at the two who went back slowly to their seats like two children in trouble.

* * *

"I want to write like mom wanted too she introduce it to me. She bought me a journal when I was only nine and ever since I haven't put a pen down." Mia Gilbert told her dad as the two sat out on the front porch eating and talking, bonding which was something the two didn't get to do very often. "I want to be a journalist. My dream my ultimate goal for the next four years is to work and go to Princeton University and work for the New York Times".

"Looks like you got it all planned out" Damon said leaning back against the post just looking at his daughter. He had spent the last five hours with her and still found it hard to believe that she had grown up that she was growing up. The last time he seen her she had braces and just got a perm that reminded him vaguely of the eighties… she hated both.

"Tomorrow you should let me give you a tour of the town since you've never been here mom has to go to work anyways… you should stay the night! I mean we have a couch… unless you have somewhere else to be. How long are you staying for"?

Mia's mouth was running a thousand miles an hour and if she had noticed she was doing it she probably would have felt embarrassed but it had been so long since she had seen her father let alone sit down and talk to him. Just talk. The only time they ever got to spend time together was when she went to visit him through the summer or on holidays but he was always working on whatever new job he had. The two never got to sit down and talk. Mia wasn't the only one who was enjoying it. Damon had never seen his daughter so excited before, so filled with life. It made him happy but at the same time it scared the hell out of him.

"You go back to school on Monday right" Damon ask his daughter "I take it you are over the moon thrilled about that".

"Yeah… I mean of course. It's just that I applied for this private school and I haven't heard back from them".

"That sucks but don't give up hope. I am sure you know that my dad and I never exactly had a Don Corleone and Michael type of relationship with the man but there is something that he told me when I was only a kid that somehow always stuck by me. Growing up, going through life every time I failed I simply said these words 'no does not mean no it just means not right now' . If you ever feel like you failed just remember sometimes you have to work harder to get what you want… it makes it feel better once you have achieved your goals".

Damon wasn't good at the parent giving advice he left that to Elena and not just because he always got awkward in those situations, he never knew what to say and when he tried to say something to make it better it always came out wrong, and because he knew nothing about the a teenaged girls mind. For the first time Damon knew what he said had helped Mia. She didn't have to say anything instead she simply smiled and hugged her dad as they heard the door open. Elena Gilbert stood looking over at her daughter hugging her father with a smile across her face. It wasn't something Elena had ever really witnessed before and she wasn't sure if she liked it or hated it.

"Hey mom" Mia said once she seen an older version of herself standing in the door way "I told dad he could stay the night… that's ok right"?

"Yeah of course" Elena said "take your pick the living room or the den but the den's couch folds out into a bed it also feels like bricks with needles poking out of it or the couch in the living room that is long but not wide… and Caroline's bed is off limits".

"I would go with the couch in the living room as long as you sleep straight" Mia told her father as the two stood up.

"What she said" Damon told Elena with a smile.

"Mi casa es su casa" Elena said welcoming the devil into her home. "Mia why don't you go on order something to eat".

"What do you want mom Chinese or pizza"?

"That better be rhetorical".

Mia laughed as she walked down the hall and into the kitchen leaving Elena and Damon alone for the first time in years. Damon didn't know what to say and Elena had many things she wanted to say but knew that she shouldn't. Mia was happy and Damon was the cause of that happiness she would hate to be the very reason her daughter lost her glow that would put a pregnant woman to shame. Instead Elena did something that she never had done before she kept her mouth shut.

"This is a very nice home you got here" Damon said with a smile "just beautiful how many bedrooms is it"?

"Four upstairs and one downstairs it's two stories. This is the main level and there is the basement which had been turned into a living area right before I bought the place it has a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and a bedroom a tiny apartment but right now it is filled with boxes and the heat or air

doesn't work there is no water when it does have water the sinks only pour out brown filthy… a lot has to be fixed so it's just a storage room right now".

"It's nice… you don't see a lot of brick houses in the suburbs anymore".

"Nope" Elena said popping the P pushing her hands in the back of her pockets.

It was obvious Damon didn't know what to say to her either if he was complementing her house instead the two adults stood there like two middle schoolers who had been dared to go into the closet for a game of seven minutes in heaven but neither knew how to kiss. Elena had never been so excited to hear her cell phone ringing from the kitchen.

* * *

Elena couldn't believe it! She had drove home from work after her first day as manger nearly driving a hundred miles an hour the whole way knowing just how illegal it was but didn't really care and once she got back to golden grove no one really paid attention when they see who was driving. It all made perfect sense they just got out of the road and off the sidewalks. She wasn't even sure if she turned her car off when she got home she just ran inside and straight to the kitchen where Bonnie and Caroline was cooking, well Caroline was cooking and Bonnie was decorating Caroline's cookies.

"Where's the fire" Bonnie asked her friend "you look like you just went through a car wash… without the car".

"Yeah? Love you too" Elena said rolling her eyes "Mia got in… that Chilton School she got in".

"Oh my god"! Both of the girls said jumping up thrilled as though it had been one of them who had been accepted.

"Dear Miss. Gilbert" Elena began to read "we are happy to inform you that we have a vacancy at Chilton preparatory starting immediately due to your daughter Amelia Garcia Gilbert's excellent credentials and your enthusiastic pursuit of her enrollment… I offered to so the principle to get her in" Elena said with a grin "we would be happy to accept her once the first semesters tuition has been received".

"This is so great" Bonnie said hugging Elena the thrilled mother.

"I have to bake her a cake" Caroline said "I will cook her favorite Triple chocolate fudge Oreo blizzard cake three tier with a… I don't know a school on top. We should have a celebration"!

"What are we celebrating" the three heard and looked to see Mia with Damon curious what was going on but the girls just stood in their place smiling like a wild maniacs. "You look… happy"?

"Yeah" Elena said about to jump out of her skin.

"Did you do something slutty"?

"I'm not that happy! This is for you" Elena said handing her daughter the letter.

They waited. They waited some more. Then finally what felt like two and a half years of waiting Elena watched her daughter's face lite up. All four adults watched as she re read the letter five times to count until she nearly squealed "I got in" and her mother held her tightly.

"How did this happen" Mia asked her mother "you didn't sleep with the principle did you"?

"No of course not that was a joke honey this is all you… you did it. You got in and I have never been so proud of you".

The two hugged and for the first time in her life Mia was happy. Truly happy she had just got into the school that would pave her way to the college of her dreams and both of her parents were there celebrating her happiness with her.

* * *

Elena Gilbert tumbled backwards crashing on her bed as the world before her came crashing down around her. She watched the ceiling fan rotate around a total of twenty seven times as she waited with the phone pressed to her ear. She waited for a mistake of any kind a typo but she knew that she wouldn't get it. She knew that it was right.

"Miss. Gilbert" the woman on the opposite end of the phone said. "That is correct the total for one semesters tuition is five thousand dollars".

"Five grand" Elena said the words as though they tasted like vinegar. "Do you at least take yearly field trips to the Caribbean or Paris"?

"Miss. Gilbert if you can't afford to send your daughter here I can give her vacancy to someone that can".

"No" Elena said shooting up. "Don't give her vacancy up… I will figure something out ok".

Elena hung up the phone and tossed it to the side. She got up and walked to the kitchen where she wasn't surprised to find Caroline and Bonnie getting ready for Mia's big celebration party.

"What's with the face"? Caroline asked almost immediately.

"I just called Mia's school to confirm everything and they told me that her tuition is five grand per semester" Elena admitted as she hopped up on the counter.

Her two friends stood speechless witch if you knew anything about Bonnie and Caroline that wasn't like them.

"We could pitch in" Caroline said after a minuet.

"Yeah" Bonnie agreed just as quickly.

"We all have a little money saved up if we put it all together-".

"No" Elena said quickly. "I couldn't ask you guys to do that for me".

"You aren't asking we are offering and it isn't for you it is for Mia" Caroline said.

"Yeah but Care that money that you would give me we have been saving up for nearly ten years to start our own Inn and besides after we dipped into it to fix the flooring after the water leak last month after the big storm in January and we had to do all that renovating…. We are lucky we have anything left I doubt it would be enough to cover it".

The two girls wanted to help but they both knew that Elena was right none of them had the money to do it even though they all wanted to.

"Should we cancel the party"? Bonnie asked the unwanted question.

"No "Elena shot back. "I will figure something out".

* * *

It was safe to say that Damon wasn't a small town guy not even close but he somehow had ended up in one and he wasn't too sure how that was until he looked to his left. That was how. Next him he looked at his daughter who was talking a thousand miles a minuet. He had never seen her so happy, not that he seen her that much when she was growing up, he had never seen her for what she was. A young woman rather he wanted to admit that or not just the thought turned his stomach in five different directions.

"Did you ever come to Golden Glove when you were younger"? Mia asked her father as the two walked down the sidewalk.

"Nope this is my first trip" he said wrapping his arm around her.

"But your brother grew up here Uncle Stefan was born here".

"Well for the most part yes he did" Damon told her. "I am sure you are aware that we don't have the same mom and she died when he was… around your age somewhere so he moved in with us until he was eighteen and he came right back".

"So your dad didn't let him come back home every now and again".

"Something you should be aware of about your grandfather Mia if he is happy chances are everyone around him is miserable".

Mia had never met her grandfather Salvatore she didn't have a clue what the man looked like and from the sound sounds of it, it was best that she didn't care.

"So I take it Santa never stopped by your house huh"? Mia asked with a grin.

"Nope just good ol' Ebenezer Salvatore" Damon said shaking his head.

It was clear that the two didn't have a good relationship if any relationship though Mia had every right to ask any question about her family she didn't precede any further because it didn't look like sunshine at the end of that tunnel.

"Come on let's go to Stefan's I am starving" Mia said taking her father's hand and pulling him in another direction.

"Stefan's what happened to Salvatore's"? Damon asked raising an eyebrow at the name.

"Stefan didn't pick it out his mom did after him but when he came back and decided to reopen he just didn't feel it was right to change the name because she Alice put her heart and soul into the café but because everyone here knows who runs it a few people just started to say 'hey let's go eat at Stefan's café".

"Hence the name" he asked?

"Yes hence the name".

* * *

Bonnie and Caroline had spent hours sitting in their tiny portion of a kitchen at the table going over every possible way to send Mia to school but found themselves coming up as empty handed as they were an hour ago. It was frustrating for both of them.

The two thought of Mia as their own daughter and loved her as though she were. Caroline had watched her grow up and though Bonnie hadn't known as long loved just as much so it was heartbreaking when they knew they couldn't help.

"What if I sold my car" Caroline finally said. "I mean it is a piece of junk but it would be some money right on top of that Elena and I work at the same place so we could just car pool everyday".

"Great idea" Bonnie said nodding her head obviously being sarcastic. "But the problem with that is selling a car can take weeks sometimes months and we need the money by Monday morning… and no one is going to buy that car it doesn't even look like it can function".

"What is wrong with my car"?

"It has four different doors".

"They broke and it was all I could afford. Hello I wash dishes for a living here".

"It looks like something you would see in a commercial where you hear the words 'see the rainbow taste the rainbow".

"Hey" Caroline exclaimed as Bonnie got up and poured herself a cup of coffee. "I will have you know I built that car with my own two hands".

"Caroline" Bonnie called her out.

"Ok I bought the parts and Stefan built it with his own two hands but I handed him the screw driver".

"It's humiliating to ride in and excruciating to look at when I am going somewhere with you I feel like I am on a bus going to summer camp".

"What are you two arguing about now" Elena asked as she walked into the kitchen buttoning her blazer that Bonnie could tell came from her closet and not from the closet of the Bulgarian princess standing in front of her.

"Caroline's car" Bonnie answered. "What do you think of it"?

"It looks like a damn skittle why"? She asked.

Bonnie simply laughed as Caroline rolled her eyes at her two friends fighting the urge to let a few middle fingers fly up at the two.

"Where are you off too looking so fancy" Caroline quickly changed the topic.

"Work" Elena replied with a smile. "Now that I am manager I wear work clothes. I know it's weird I put my maid uniform on first but I am running late I will see you girls later".

Sure Elena acted as though it weren't on her mind she pretended that it had the littlest effect on her but they both knew too well that she was breaking inside at the thought that her daughter might not get the one thing she wanted the most. The one thing that could let her have a better life than Elena did.

It was tearing her up inside and out.

Elena walked out to her car and as she got in and began to drive away she quickly dialed a number knowing it would get her nowhere but she called the number.

"Golden Grove tradition bank" the man said on the other end.

Boy, did she hate those words.

* * *

"This is a café" Damon asked his daughter as the two sat down at the counter because he wasn't entirely sure he heard her right.

"Yeah" she answered not really sure what he meant by that. "Why"?

"Because every café I have ever been to has been like a cute little 'I love Lucy' episode".

"And this isn't"?

"No" he replied a little too fast. "It's more like a Tom and Jerry marathon" he said earning a laugh from his daughter. "It's like a café meets a dinner meets a huddle house meets… a bar run by Robert Downey JR" Damon said looking around coming face to face with Stefan who stood behind the counter.

Damon grinned though it won him awards with the ladies it seemed to have very little effect on his baby brother whose green eyes never seemed more threating until this very moment. No sudden movements.

"I mean it's like… a beautiful restaurant run by... Gwyneth Paltrow" Damon back tracked quickly though still found two eyes piercing him. "Oh look is this the menu"?

Stefan chose to ignore his brother as he handed Mia a plate full of food.

"We haven't even ordered yet" Damon said somewhat confused by this action.

"I know what she likes hell her and Elena come in here more than three times a day and that covers all your basic food preparations".

"Seriously" Damon asked turning to his daughter.

"It's a good thing he reopened this place or we would starve to death" Mia said.

"All they have in their house is coffee grounds" Stefan informed his brother. "Although Elena can cook three meals frozen food, take out, and microwavable".

"Something's never chance huh" Damon asked with a grin.

Stefan shook his head as he walked away leaving the two to talk or to bond whatever you want to call it pretending that he didn't envy his brother. The two were always close, well ever since they knew about each other, though Damon had the one thing Stefan had longed for so long.

A family.

Although Damon didn't see it that way he was young when Mia when came along too young to even grasp the concept of what was happening. Fifteen years later he still didn't fully grasp the concept of what had happened to him then it still felt like one big blur.

"Where did Mia go" Stefan asked as he walked over and picked up her now empty plate.

"She said she would be right back went to talk to some friend across the street" Damon told him.

"So" Stefan said "what are you doing here Damon"?

He asked the million dollar question that everyone seemed to be wandering lately though no one else was going to ask.

"I've… I've just been thinking lately I was in New York with a few friends of mine and partying till the break of dawn you know typical Damon as dad puts it when one of my friends left early. It wasn't like him at all he loved to party but he said he wanted to get home to his newborn daughter. The rest of the night I was thinking about how I was raised. I swore I would never be my father. As terrified as I was the day Mia was born or before that even I would never be him but the thing is I wasn't. I'm not. But I am worse".

"How do you mean"? Stefan asked clearly confused his comment. "I mean every time you come around that little girls face lights up like a five year old at Christmas".

"But isn't that the problem "Damon said. "What you just said in that sentence is the very problem. Every time I come around I should be around dad was harsh and mean and cruel with every word he said but he was there even when we didn't want him to be he was there. I haven't' been and she isn't even a little girl anymore I missed so much… I can't afford to miss anymore".

Stefan didn't know what to say this wasn't a side he had ever seen of his brother before but it wasn't a side that he didn't like either. He was proud of Damon it was amazing to see a mature side of his brother something that was very unfamiliar.

"Her face lights up every time I come around" Damon repeated what Stefan had said just moments ago somewhat disappointed by the words. "She shouldn't because I shouldn't come around I should be around. Elena made a home with our daughter here and was there when I wasn't… I have to change for her".

* * *

Elena wanted to throw her phone a moment debating about it she did she throw the cell phone in her hand. It hit the dashboard and she wasn't shocked when it the ground in more than one piece. She was ready to scream to the top of her lungs.

"This couldn't get any worse" she yelled.

But those little words seemed to bit her right back in the ass as her car came to a slow screeching halt with smoke coming up from under the hood. Elena got out of her car that was stopped dead in the middle of the road.

Not that she knew anything about cars she popped the hood only to have five times the smoke rolling out from underneath and something black squirt all over her white shirt.

"The universe hates me" she said before grabbing her purse and heading back towards town on foot towards her house.

Caroline could only listen from afar. It was awful that for the first time she knew there was little to nothing that she could do for her friend when Elena had always been there for her over the years whenever Caroline needed her. If it was important and life threating or it was important and life threating in Caroline's terms she was there.

Now, the onetime Elena needs Caroline the most and there was absolutely nothing that she could do.

"It is going to cost how much to fix my car I don't think I heard you right" Elena nearly yelled as she paced from the living room to the dining room repeatedly.

After a heated argument with the mechanic on the other end Elena didn't bother saying thank you or good bye instead she slammed the phone down on the table as she next to Caroline on the couch.

"Dare I ask what he said about the car"? Caroline asked looking at her friend.

"He said something about the motor blew and some sort plug or wire I don't know… I need a new one basically I am screwed he said it would be cheaper just to go out and buy a new car which I don't have the money for…I don't even have the money to send my kid to the school of her dreams".

Caroline rubbed Elena's back as she watched her friend fight the tears that were quickly finding their way to the surface.

"Maybe Damon could lend you the money".

"Compared to him we are filthy rich" Elena said. "He is a photographer Caroline and not your Ansel Adams type either more like Woddy Logg".

"Who"?

"Exactly".

"I am sure Mia will understand" Caroline told her.

"But that is the thing she shouldn't have to understand I am her mother I am supposed to be able to be able to provide for her but I can't even though I want to so badly. I want to give her the world but I can't… I can't even-".

Before she had the chance to say anything her point was proven when the lights shut off followed by the T.V and anything else that needed a power source.

"I can't even pay the electric bill" Elena said running her hand through her hair.

"I guess that was our third notice" Caroline said basically stating the obvious.

"This can't be happening yesterday I thought it was all looking up I got a huge promotion my kid got into the school of her dreams I was on a road it was straight and clear and perfect but now I am standing here and everything is just falling down around me".

Elena was fresh out of ideas and she had been bled dry of the money she had.

Before either of the girls had the chance to say anything at all Elena stood up and grabbed the keys to Caroline's car.

"I hope you don't mind I am going to borrow your car for a few hours" Elena said on her way towards the door.

"That's fine" Caroline said "where are you going exactly"?

"To sell my soul to the devil".

She was at rock bottom and out of choices an hour later Elena found herself sitting outside of the gates of the home she grew up in terrified what was behind the big red door.

* * *

_**So review and let me know what you think :) Maybe its just me but I love the Delena awkwardness...and how are you feeling for ships? **_

_**I am not rushing with any relationship as of right now. Its more family based...but I do need some ideas what to work towards?**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thanks so much for reviewing... and for following and faving this story,...here is the next chapter. :)**_

* * *

Elena Gilbert couldn't make herself move forward or backward all she could do was stand there. Frozen. Perhaps she was frozen in fear either way she was frozen.

When most people return to their childhood home they overwhelmed with happiness from their memories. They want to sit down and reminisce about all the good times. But, that was the problem for her. She didn't have any good times.

It might cut off shorts and an inappropriate tank top warm, let's face it August in Virginia, August anywhere you was facing some heat but the second she pulled through the gates and up the driveway Elena suddenly felt like she needed a jacket or a really long out of style pea coat.

Elena finally climbed out of Caroline's car and walked forward towards the big red door and for a minuet she nearly turned around and ran but she didn't. She couldn't.

Elena reached forward and pressed the doorbell.

She waited much longer than she expected too or maybe it just felt like that. The door finally opened after a moment or two.

"Hi mom" Elena said with a very obvious that the smile was forced across her face.

"Elena".

Her mother was shocked to see her and it took a lot to shock Isobel Gilbert.

GG

Damon walked into Salvatore's and wasn't at all shocked to find his daughter sitting at the counter reading a book. He wouldn't expect any less. He couldn't be more proud of his daughter. She was everything that he had hoped she would be and more than that.

He sat down next to Mia who didn't even take notice in his presence instead continued to have her nose dug practically buried deep inside the book as though she was becoming one with it. After a few passing moments he reached over and took the book out of hand which caught her attention fairly quickly.

"Hey" she yelled and snatched it back from him.

"Julius Caesar that's a good book" he told her.

"You know the book"?

"Tenth grade".

"Doesn't count if you can't remember it".

Damon looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"There's a tidal movement in men's affairs. Seizing the highest tide leads on to fortune. If high tide is let to pass, all the rest of the voyage of their lives will be marked by difficulty and misery. It's on such a high

tide that we're now floating, and we must take the current when it is offered, or lose our campaign" he recited from the book without having it in his hand.

"You actually read it"?

"Why are you so shocked that your old man reads. I mean let's face it you had to get it from somewhere".

"What other books do you read"? Mia asked suddenly very much intrigued by the mysterious man sitting next to her. "Don't you just love William Shakespeare the way he can capture in just one sentence? Who is your favorite author even though she wasn't an author I always loved reading Anne Frank, her bravery is astonishing and when you read it… it makes you truly grateful for what we do have you know what I mean"?

"Would now be a bad time to tell you that I was in the play and that was my only line"?

He watched as his daughters face drop instantly.

Now, he wish he hadn't said anything at all.

"So you have never read"? Mia asked her voice burying deeper and deeper into the ground.

"I mean of course I have… the cat and the hat… all time favorite".

Mia smiled but she didn't really mean it that much was clear.

GG

Elena smiled nervously as she sat on her hands stopping herself from fiddling around one of things her mother always hated. She sat on the couch opposite to her mother as she watched Isobel slowly sip tea from her cup that looked to small and fragile to hold.

"So is there a reason as to why you are here" Isobel cut straight to the point it wasn't every day that her daughter just dropped by, it wasn't every year that she just dropped by.

"Well, yes" before she could finish she heard the door open and close.

She silently moaned to herself. Neither of her parents were easy to deal with but her mother was by far the easiest or at least when it came to things like this it was.

"Elena" John Gilbert asked shocked when he walked into the sitting room, because you need both a sitting room and living room, where he found his wife sitting with his daughter who was rarely seen around… no she was never seen around here anymore. "This is… a surprise".

"Yes it is" Isobel agreed. "She has something to discuss with us" she told her husband. "Why don't you sit down right here"?

Isobel was sure John would want a ring side seat for whatever it was that was about to come up in this conversation.

"Well, as you know I have been working as a maid for-".

"You need money" John interrupted her.

"Well-"she couldn't lie that was the case, that was why she was sitting there feeling more and more embarrassed with each passing second.

"How much"? John asked pulling his check book out of his side pocket.

"You have to know that I will pay you back as soon as possible but you also have to know it isn't all for me… most of it is for Mia".

"Mia" Isobel asked raising an eyebrow. "Oh heavens she's pregnant. Mia is pregnant".

"How could you let this happen? After what happened to you? You want her working as a maid for the rest of her life"? John scolded his daughter.

"She isn't pregnant" Elena said.

"Trouble"?

"No, nothing bad it is good… great actually" Elena said before they could ask anything more. "She is smart wicked smart and she reads I swear she hasn't put a book down this entire summer… she got into Chilton".

"Chilton" John asked. "That's a top Ivy league school".

"I know… but the money is…. She really wants this or I wouldn't be here".

"Why of course I would be happy to give it to you" John said.

She saw a gleam in her father's eye that she never saw before. He was proud. She wasn't sure if he was just proud of Mia or proud of Elena for raising Mia to turn out the way she did either way he was proud and it wasn't something she had ever seen before.

"One condition" Isobel said.

"There it is".

It was too easy.

"Now that we are financially involved in your lives I would like for us to be actively involved in one another's lives. I want a weekly dinner Friday nights would work best for everyone what with work and school we wouldn't want to have any distractions from that… does seven o'clock work for you"?

Both her parents looked waiting for an answer both clearly very much into the idea.

"Yes mom seven is fine" Elena said through her clenched teeth.

"So tomorrow night it is".

"Sounds good" Elena moaned.

GG

"Mom" Mia yelled as she walked into her house with Damon trailing behind her. "Hello anyone home"? She asked out loud as she sat her things on the couch and Mia turned to face her dad as she said "there is never not anyone not here".

"Surprise" a loud scream came from everyone who jumped out of the hallway. Mia smiled at the sight of her mother, Uncle Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie many balloons and streamers flying anywhere.

"Oh my God" she said with a wide smile. "What is all this"?

"This is your victory party" Caroline said as Elena held the button down on her air horn until Stefan took it away.

"It is a party and you are a party pooper" she said hitting him in the gut.

"No my ears are" he fired back at her.

"Congratulations honey" Elena said hugging her daughter. "I just paid the school you officially start on Monday aren't you excited"?

"I thought…"

"I fixed it".

"Come on I cooked you a cake and all your favorites so for dinner we are having mash potatoes, tater tots, fried pickles, veggie burgers, chicken friend and boiled, oh and homemade Twinkies…basically all the food major groups" Caroline said taking Mia's hand as the four women jumped around.

"All I got to say is welcome to my life" Stefan said sitting on the stairs next to where his brother stood "you are now part of the club two men and a bunch of neurotic control freaks little tip… birthdays are holidays even if it isn't in the calendar".

Damon laughed as he watched his daughter have a tiara placed on her head and the three women around her bow.

"Look how happy she is" Damon said sitting next to his brother.

"Yeah".

"Can you believe how much she looks like Elena"?

"She is beautiful".

"In case you were wondering I'm not going anywhere" Damon told Stefan turning to look at him. "I know you have been there for her when I wasn't but I am here now. I'm not going anywhere".

"Good for you" Stefan said.

The two sat in silence watching as Mia posed for pictures with the three wacky girls around her.

"How do I connect with her Stefan one minuet she is acting like a normal teenager and the next it's like she is Albert Einstein… she reads and writes… she can write… she is so smart and I just feel so out of place in her world because I have never been a part of it before".

"You will learn in time like with everyone else you will connect with her in your own way right now I don't think she cares… I think she just wants you to be here… that is enough for her… by the way just in case you need it… I have a job opening and an extra bed".

Damon smiled at his brother seemed before Mia and Elena came over dragging the two Salvatore's over for pictures.

GG

"Thanks for helping me clean up" Elena said to Damon as the two picked up the streamers that had made their way across the house after everyone else had gone to bed or just left all together.

"It's no problem" he told her. "She seemed to have fun".

"Yeah she did".

"Not that it is my business but how did you come up with the money"?

"My parents".

"Ouch".

It didn't take a genius to know that Elena didn't have the best with relationship with her parents. In fact everyone knew that. They were much like his in one way so he knew what it was like.

"I have to go to dinner every Friday night" Elena told him. "Which I so look forward to by the way in case you were curious".

Damon laughed at her sarcasm as the two sat down on the couch.

"I just hope with this new promotion that I can pay them off fairly quickly… but it is for Mia".

"I want to help" Damon said the words she had been hoping to hear for fifteen years which left her mouth hanging wide open. "I do Elena she is my daughter… I want to help with buying her things…whatever it takes".

Elena smiled and ran her hands through his dark hair.

"You really have grown up" she said with a grin. "Ok" she nodded followed by a long yawn "it has been a long day I am going to bed… lock up when you leave… if you leave… you can crash here whenever you want".

Elena climbed the stairs leaving Damon alone in the living room. He stood up and walked over to the fireplace where pictures sat on the mantel. Pictures of his daughter. Pictures of Mia with everyone. One with Caroline and her cooking covered head to toe in cake, one with Stefan on a sled coming down hill,

one with Bonnie at what he could only assume to be a science fair, and one with Elena at a soccer game when the ball looked to be bigger than her.

Damon knew he couldn't change the past but he still had the future.

As he turned around to leave he seen the book Julius Caesar lying on the coffee table it was the first time he had seen it not attached to his daughters hands. He grabbed the book and sat down and couldn't believe instead of sleeping he was choosing to read.

GG

Elena hoped out of the much needed shower after the longest days of her life and mentally tried to prepare for the day ahead of her as she dressed in the most comfortable thing she could find. She tiptoed out of her room her wet feet hitting the hardwood sending a chills through her body as she crept towards Mia's room.

Elena slowly opened the door where she saw her daughter sleeping.

"Mom" Elena heard Mia's small still childlike voice come from the shadows.

"Yeah"? Elena asked back.

"You didn't have to go to grandma and grandpa" Mia said.

Elena wasn't too shocked that Mia had found out in one way or another.

"Yes I did" Elena said as she walked over and crawled into bed with Mia. "I may not have been able to give you a lot going up and I am sorry for that. It's my fault. But that is all going to change ok… everything is going to change".

"And dad… is he going to change"?

"I… I think so he loves you I know that".

"But, he always leaves… I don't want him to go again".

Elena wished she could say otherwise but she couldn't.

"No matter happens you still got me ok"?

"Always" Mia swore as she hugged her mother before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

_**As you can tell I used Elena's biological parents...Just because I think that Grayson and Miranda have such a good and sweet innonces to them I don't want to ruin that.**_

_**I do need help.**_

_**I want Katherine to be in the story and I have plans for the Originals but Katherine...I don't know how to fit her or Jeremy in with Elena being an only child? Any suggestions?**_

_**And Delena or Stelena...**_

_**Now for reviewing...:) Let me know what you think and what you would like to see. Open to anything. **_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline :) **_

_**This Chapter is the first half into Elena's background. :) **_

* * *

Stefan Salvatore barley dodged a high heel shoe that came flying his way as he walked into Elena Gilbert's bedroom where he wasn't shocked at all when he found the twenty nine year old buried in in a pile of clothes. Sure, he had never seen her room clean, or her house or car for that matter, but this was reaching an above and beyond even her the levels that she herself created of sloppiness… if that was a word which Stefan was more than sure it wasn't.

The fact that a cosmopolitan magazine was having to be pried off of his shoe told him all that he needed to know.

"What the hell happened in here" Stefan asked gaining Elena's attention though she didn't turn around to acknowledge him instead she kept searching through her clothes.

"I have nothing to wear" she moaned.

"Nothi… Nothing to wear"? He asked the question as though he really needed to. "It looks like a damn tornado controlled by Madonna herself came flying through here".

"I meant to dinner" Elena said standing up stepping over a pile of things nearly tripping as she went towards her closet. "I have absolutely nothing that my mother can't turn into a conversation piece".

"Well, that will teach you to shop at a place with a hello kitty on every tag".

"Now is not the time Stef, I am panicking. I can't believe I even agreed to do this. Why do I agree to this"?

"Because Mia wants to go to the big fancy school so she can get into Princeton… the school she has talked about since she was six you know when most kids her age were watching smile time she was watching documentaries on the civil war".

"I know you bought her the VHS set" Elena said crashing on the bed next to him. "I really don't like my parents though. I remember what it was like. I was so unhappy...as far back as I can even remember".

* * *

_Eight year old Elena Marie Gilbert sat at the dinner table quietly. She watched as her mother Isobel took a large sip of the red liquid out of the glass in her hand. If Elena didn't know any better she was almost certain that if her mother put it down her arm would fall off. You could be rich and classy or you could be a drunk but apparently you couldn't be both. According to Mrs. Gilbert after Elena's harsh accusations that drunks were those people you seen on the side of the road begging for money._

_Elena then looked to her father John who sat at the opposite end of the table than her mother. She watched as he cut his roast beef and popping each piece of it into his mouth where he slowly chewed as if he was savoring the taste as though it were his last. After each bite John would lean forward and grab his cup and take a small drink. Her parents told her it was coke but she knew better. She couldn't smell coke on her father's breath across the table._

_Then Elena looked to her own plate. Half-full and half empty. The meat was gone. She always had wanted a dog for reasons like this._

_"May I be excused"? Elena asked out loud gaining her parents attention._

_"You're not done eating" John said as he noticed food still on her plate._

_"But I'm not hungry anymore"._

_"You know Elena there are countries where kids your age would kill, honestly kill one another, for what you simply have on your plate" John told his daughter._

_Elena looked down at her plate full of peas and proceed to stuff them in her mouth avoiding gaging at all cost or she knew she would hear about it from her parents._

_"Dessert" she heard Lilah the maid of the week pronounce as she entered the room just as Elena finished eating the last of her peas._

_A smile spread across her face at the sight of the three pieces of cake on the tray in Lilah's hand. She got her fork ready to dig in._

_"You may now be excused" John told his daughter._

_"But-"Elena said looking at the cake that was being sat in front of him._

_"You said just a moment ago that you were no longer hungry was that a lie"? Isobel asked her daughter._

_"No but-"._

_"Then if you were already full and forced yourself to eat what was late on your plate then we wouldn't want you to get sick by eating this cake now would we"?_

_Elena looked from her mother to her father and knew she was fighting a losing game. She pushed against the table with her hands forcing her chair backwards, hoped down, and pushed the chair back into the table before leaving the room. Elena went upstairs to her bedroom where she changed into her nightgown and climbed into bed._

_Fifteen minutes pasted before she heard a light knock and looked up to see Lilah walking into her room shutting the door behind her holding a plate with a piece of chocolate cake on it and for in the other hand. Elena smiled at the sight as the maid handed her the cake._

_"I won't tell if you don't" Lilah told the grinning child._

* * *

After quite some time searching through her friends closets Elena finally walked back into her bedroom where she found Stefan, not a big shock, cleaning up the mess she had made. It happens more often than not when he comes over, she leaves a room and returns to him in the process of cleaning or it has already been clean.

It comes in handy when she is having company but it is also one of his biggest flaws. She can never find anything once he has cleaned and moves everything around. Just because it makes sense for the salt shakers to be on the table doesn't mean that she doesn't like them in the cabinets above the fridge.

"I hope Caroline doesn't mind if I borrow one of her dresses" Elena said glancing in the mirror. "Could you zip me up"?

"Yeah" Stefan said stuffing a pair of jeans into a drawer not sure if that was where they went or if they were even clean but that is where they ended up.

He walked over to Elena who stood in front of the mirror holding her hair up.

Elena felt the air that was brushing against her back slowly disappear as Stefan eased the zipper to the top of the dress she was wearing before leaning against him closing her eyes and letting out a deep breath.

"It will be fine" he whispered in her ear his breath tickling the back of her neck. "Even if it's not it's just two hours every Friday".

"Have you ever been to my parent's dinners? It will be three or four hours. I know what I have to do and I guess it could be worse but they are the most miserable people to be around Stefan. I love them they are my parents but ever since I got pregnant they have looked at me as though I am nothing more than the whore of Babylon… or in this case Richmond".

"That's not true".

"Did you get pregnant when you was only twelve years old? Were you a parent when you was only thirteen? I mean thirteen years old and I was a mother" Elena said turning around to face him. "I shouldn't even have had my first kiss at that age but instead I was a mother. I could never regret Mia you know that she is the single most amazing thing in my life but I did whatever I could just to piss my parents off I never thought about the consequences and boy there was one".

"Elena, you know that's not true".

"It is true" Elena said in a matter-o-fact tone looking at him. "I embarrassed them. I humiliated them".

* * *

_Elena slammed the door to her bedroom behind her, she was upset, no she had surpassed upset she was pissed off. She had to hit something, preferable her father's face, but instead the jewelry box with the ballerina that danced every time you opened it that was sitting on her dresser got it. S_

_Elena hit it the jewelry box and sent it flying across the room. She didn't watch to see where it went but she heard it land with a thick thud knowing that it broke possibly in more pieces than one knowing it would cause yet again another fight between her and her parents. She hated the damn thing anyways and she had hated it since the day her mother brought it home when she was five and never let Elena remove it from her bedroom even though she had surpassed the years that it was acceptable in a young girl's room._

_Elena flung herself back on her bed and starred at the ceiling for several moments until she heard a light peck at her window. She heard it once more before finally walking over to her window and propping it open to find Damon standing with a handful of her mother's rocks in his hand._

_"Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your long hair" he called with a smile._

_"Oh Prince Flynn you came to my rescue" she said grinning. "Come on up"._

_Elena quickly locked her bedroom door and stuffed blankets at the through the bottom to keep sounds from traveling down the hall even though he parents were all the way on the east wing she just to be safe. By the time she was done and turned around Damon was standing behind her shutting the window._

_"What is with the Donna Louis face your making" Damon asked crashing on her bed._

_"My parents, my dad specifically… there is this slumber party which I know isn't really important to you but I wanted to go I never have been to one. It's not fair. He said no because Leah's mom is single like it makes a difference or something"._

_Damon nodded he knew her parents were very much like his._

_"It's like I can't have friends unless they have money she is nice and kind and I like her"._

_"Whoa" Damon said throwing his hands up "I didn't know you were freaky like that"._

_"Shut-up as a friend" Elena said sitting down next to Damon on the bed and turned to him "you, boy or girl are the only person that makes me go weak in the knees…well Paul McCartney"._

_She was teasing him because it was funny._

_But, he kissed her before she could say anymore. Elena smiled into the kiss as he laid her back on the bed…_

* * *

"Ok just remember head up and no looking at the floor always smile oh don't forget to compliment your grandmother on her dress always ask if she just got her hair done-"Elena told Mia as the two walked towards the door.

"Mom relax" Mia said with a smile.

"I am relaxed" Elena said but her daughter looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Ok fine I am a nervous wreck but that is not what is important anymore… you nervous"?

"Meeting the people that you said had the most elegant saved seats in hell yes but I am also good at hiding it" Mia said.

Elena reached forwards and rang that damn little doorbell hearing it rhyme the same song it had since her father installed it. The two waited. They waited for several seconds before a maid shockingly enough answered the door.

"We are here for-".

"Yes Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert said they were expecting dinner guests come in" the woman said in an accent so strong they was lucky enough to understand her.

Elena led her daughter through the great hallway to the sitting room that was bigger than their whole house where her parents sat, drinking, of course.

"Mom… dad" Elena said making her presences known as if the doorbell didn't do that for her. "Sweetie I'm not sure if you remember your grandparents".

"Amelia" Isobel said as the two stood in the most proper way she was not sure how they hadn't broke a leg.

"Mom she actually goes by Mia now" Elena said as she sat down on the couch quickly downing the drink that was waiting for her.

"It's ok mom" Mia said "if they prefer to call me Amelia it's just fine however I do like Mia".

"Well, Mia it is" John said with a big grin as they everyone else sat down. "So tell us Chilton…you start next week"?

"Yes, on Monday" Mia said nodding her head.

"Are you excited"? Isobel asked her.

"Yes and no I mean I am so thrilled to be going but starting a new school is always hard and I have went to Golden Grove my whole life but starting a new chapter in my life is very exciting".

Isobel and John seemed much taken back by her reply Elena quickly noticed.

"Do you like to read"? Isobel asked.

"Yes" Mia said with a light smile.

"Have you been reading any books this summer"? John asked his granddaughter.

"Yes. Julius Caesar is my latest book but I also read gone with the wind, Cold Mountain, Little Women… I read it for entertainment every summer, Pride and Prejudice… Just things to pass time by quicker".

"Your grandmother here absolutely loved Jane Eyre when she picks up she won't put it down until she is done I never really cared much for it".

John was testing his granddaughter. Elena could tell by the way he was rubbing his palms together as if he couldn't already tell that she was smart but that wasn't why he was doing it. He was seeing just how well she would really fit in, in his world. It certainly upset Elena but she had nothing to worry about.

"Well, honestly I can see why Charlotte Brontë can draw you in with one word though to me out of all the three Brontë sisters I loved Emily the most Wuthering Heights… I actually got the part of Catherine Earnshaw in our school play because I already knew every line".

John and Isobel smiled at their granddaughter who just happened to be the daughter they always dreamed of having.

* * *

_**Authors note: You will quickly learn I do a lot of these.**_

_**Thanks so much for the reviews... and honestly I have been thinking a lot about who I want Elena with... Delena or Stelena and as of right now...I don't think I will put her with either Salvatore. **_

_**For right now. While relationships are a big deal in this story I would want it to be more "family" based really. **_

_**And a lot of people are so angry at Damon for leaving Elena to raise their daughter...well next chapter you might be equally as upset with Elena and Stefan...(no nothing romantic). But, they do it for good reason.**_

_**Next thing I am really thinking of making Jeremy, Matt, Tyler, Rebekah, and Anna go to school with Mia...what do you think?**_

_**However I am very pro Jeremy and Bonnie so I can't decide if I want to do that with Jeremy or something else? Opinions?**_

_**I have this great Stelena friendship going and I love it...so I think I will keep it for a while. I don't want to make this another Love triangle story like every other one... I kind of like that they all get a long. Yes, there will problems but I really want Elena and Damon to have a friendship first but that doesn't mean there aren't still feelings there. **_

_**Now for those relationships with others? What do you think? **_

_**So? Opinions? **_

_**And what did you think of this chapter please review and if you like this story check out my other ones as well. **_

_**My most popular TVD one...The secrets we hid in the night. **_

_** s/9776507/1/The-secrets-we-hid-in-the-night**_

**_Two more of my fav shows merged together Army wives + TVD Our code :) _**

**_ s/10445106/1/Our-Code_**

_**And if you like one tree hill this is my next generation story...I have been writing it for some time now :) **_

_** s/8166223/1/Only-One-Tree-Hill**_

**_Now I am writing all of these at the same time so enjoy :) AND AGAIN REVIEW PLEASE :) _**


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